The King of Black Fog

In the future, when asked about the feeling at the moment of death, he would recall the instant of falling.

But... just give up like this? Once you give up, you might never have the courage again in this life.

"Survival is most important," Yeet saw his hesitation, he had experienced it before, "The first time I descended into the Abyss, following the captain all the way to the 'front line', hehe," he self-deprecatingly chuckled twice, "I ended up with 'three frostbitten toes, and a slash on my back'.

Stone Fist finally wavered.

"I'll stay too," he said.

"Andy?" The old man looked at Andy.

Andy also hesitated, and finally said, "I will stay too."

The old man felt both comforted and somewhat saddened, Andy had grown, but this growth was exchanged for something equally important.

Unless by luck, Andy would never obtain the 'Great Power' in his lifetime.

"Captain, this time we all stay." The old man looked at Li Changzhou, "As agreed, half of the harvested ice is yours."

"Let's survive first." Li Changzhou said nonchalantly.

The others didn't care much either, for Li Changzhou who possessed 'Great Power', the 'Fallout Zone' and the safe hotel were no different, mining ice was as convenient as picking up stones.

If it weren't for guarding against other 'Great Powers', requiring lives to test, he wouldn't have needed to bring people down at all.

Before separating from the six, Li Changzhou dug a relatively deep cave to serve as a temporary base for them to recover Physical Strength and fight enemies.

When Li Changzhou came up from the Abyss, he would also come here to reunite with them, taking his share of the ice while bringing them up.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Black Hand grabbed a few more times near the cave, carving out simple steps.

"Thank you, Boss!"

"Boss, be careful!"

"Hope the Boss can gain a new 'Great Power', long live the Boss!"

Under the sincere gratitude and wishes of the six, Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan disappeared into the Darkness.

"Where's that little brat?" Li Changzhou asked.

Yang Qinglan hadn't said a word along the way, if she hadn't been moving, one might think she had turned into an Ice Corpse of a beautiful girl.

She raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

The Darkness surged out, transforming into a Black Box, bearing the two, descending rapidly like an elevator.

After stopping using the ice pick, Yang Qinglan let out a sigh of relief, gently kneading her arm.

Li Changzhou smiled and said, "You've worked hard."

She not only had to use an ice pick, but also turn ice shards into living little people to observe the situation at the bottom of the Abyss in advance, consuming great physical and mental strength.

"In an instance, be as cautious as possible," Yang Qinglan replied.

Li Changzhou nodded.

Following the old men down slowly was just because of caution.

He and Yang Qinglan knew nothing about the Abyss, and needed the old men to familiarize them with it. The Safe Zone was a practice ground for Tali, Andy, and Stone Fist, and it was the same for them.

Game tasks are always 'evenly matched', the two of them reaching this point today would never rely on being stronger than Tali and these ordinary people to think they were omnipotent, feeling proud of themselves, and daring to act on their own without understanding the Abyss.

Moreover, the two were also vigilant against the old men.

Among these people, it is entirely possible to hide a 'Great Power'.

But it wasn't just about being cautious, they followed the six through the 'Safe Zone' and (slightly) the 'Fallout Zone', risking their lives, waiting for the possibly existing 'Great Power' to make a move.

Now, they were going to actively hunt another 'Great Power'.

Boom!

The Black Box trembled slightly, colliding with an Ice Corpse.

As the Ice Corpse's hands left the ice wall, just as it was about to fall into the Abyss, a Black Hand grew from the Black Box and caught it.

The Black Hand slowly moved up, transforming into another Black Box, the Black Wall between the two Black Boxes dissolved, becoming a singular rectangular Black Box.

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan walked over.

"You try first." Li Changzhou said.

Yang Qinglan placed her hand on the Ice Corpse's arm and shook her head, "It's no use."

She was trying to turn the Ice Corpse into a living person.

"It seems I can only turn non-self-moving objects into life," she said.

"That's enough."

Six Black Nails extruded from the Black Box's wall, piercing into the Ice Corpse's brow, limbs, and heart — just in case, the Black Chains securing the Ice Corpse were not loosened.

Outside the Black Box, four more Black Hands stretched out, grabbing four large ice pieces.

As the Black Hands retracted into the Black Box, two of the hands squeezed hard, crushing the ice pieces, leaving only two complete large ice blocks.

Under Yang Qinglan's Strength, two two-meter-tall ice figures and a pile of small ice figures appeared inside the Black Box.

After doing all this, Yang Qinglan turned back, looking in a certain direction: "Almost there."

A black hand reached out, grasping the icy wall, leaving five deep finger marks on it, the speed of the Black Box plummeting.

"Be careful," Yang Qinglan whispered.

Li Changzhou nodded with a solemn expression.

He believed he was bound to win, but no matter what, if the opponent hit him even once, all his efforts so far would turn to nothing, and his cherished dream of traveling the universe would never be realized.

In the real world, he dared to enter the Vatican directly and confront the Pope, but in the instance, even with Tali, he maintained the utmost vigilance, and the Darkness always protected him under his cold-weather clothing.

After Yang Qinglan arrived, the Black Armor also wrapped around her.

◇

In the depths of Darkness.

The child who used 'Breathtaking Green Light' at the tavern was carried on someone's back.

His guards clung to the icy wall like bats, motionless like cocoons on a tree.

Whoosh!

In this deathly silent Abyss, a sudden gale blew, and two blue flames the size of fists flew up from the Abyss.

The blue flames hovered behind the child.

"Whoosh!" The flames spewed and corroded a massive hole beside the child.

In the firelight, the silhouette of a Black Dragon became increasingly clear, and those two flames turned out to be the eyes of the Black Dragon.

The Black Dragon charged into the cave, its claw holding a basket, inside which crouched several black shadows.

The cocoons awakened, trembling, yet agile enough to crawl into the cave.

The cave had been corroded by high temperatures, and after only a few seconds, it was accessible, though still scorching hot.

The child jumped down from his subordinate's back, glanced at the Black Dragon in the firelight, and mocked, "Black Flame Dragon, I doubt you can hold on much longer."

The Black Flame Dragon transformed into a humanoid form, but his head and limbs remained dragon-like.

"Completely becoming the Black Flame Dragon may not be a bad thing," the Black Flame Dragon said coldly, glancing at the child, "Old man, I think you can hold on even less. Your mindset has completely infantilized. Your side effect is deadlier than mine."

The child snorted coldly.

The child's subordinates stood at the cave entrance, forming a human wall to block the cold wind and preserve the residual warmth inside the cave.

Though it was freezing outside, they were thankful not to confront these 'Great Power' bearers, especially those whose side effects were beyond suppression.

Beside them, in the basket brought in by the Black Flame Dragon, three figures stood up.

One had closed eyes;

Another wore no cold-weather clothing, just wrapped in a layer of white gauze, like a mummy;

The last person looked no different from a normal person, with an Ice Sword tucked at their waist without a sheath.

Judging by their physiques, the one with closed eyes was a man, the mummy and the one with the Ice Sword were women.

"Where is it?" the Black Flame Dragon asked.

The child retrieved a finger bone from layers of clothing, already dry, with a layer of skin covering the bone.

The mummy stepped forward, unwrapped her abdomen, and with a small knife, cut a piece of skin from herself to wrap the finger bone.

Three seconds later, she returned the finger bone to the child, handing the skin to the Black Flame Dragon.

Warm words appeared on the skin.

[Name: Finger Bone]

[Owner: Lar]

[Status: Still active, Lar is a Living Dead, frozen]

[Analysis: The Finger Bone owner possesses 'Great Power - Never Sleep Again,' activates after death]

[Never Sleep Again: Transforms the dead into an Ice Corpse, granting control over the Ice Corpse]

"How about it?" the child proudly tossed the finger bone, "Once we obtain 'Never Sleep Again,' all of the Abyss's Ice Corpses will be ours. Not a single 'Great Power' will escape from the frontline. With so much 'Great Power,' resolving both your and my side effects will be no problem!"

The Black Flame Dragon handed the human skin to the female Swordsman with the Ice Sword.

"Gula," the Black Flame Dragon called out another name, "Check if we have succeeded."

The man with closed eyes slowly opened them, revealing golden pupils that seemed mismatched with his being, more like parasites.

The golden eyes silently stared at the child.

"Death," the man said.

The child frowned.

"Death is imminent."

"What? Imminent?" everyone exclaimed, shocked.

"Black Flame Dragon, are you plotting to kill me?" the child roared, raising a finger, as Breathtaking Green Light instantly flooded the cave.

"Wait!" the Black Flame Dragon barked in a deep voice, "Gula, what's going on? What did you see?"

"Darkness is coming," Gula said.